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20 September 2012

Nukes no more

Japan’s government vowed last week to phase out nuclear power by 2040. Some have dismissed the promise as a vote-winner for elections due next year. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda pledged to treble to 30 per cent the amount of energy from renewable sources. Critics warned that without nuclear power, Japan would need to import more fossil fuels.

Smashing success

Protons and lead ions have hit head-on in the Large Hadron Collider for the first time. The 13 September test shows that the LHC can be tuned to get the unequal beams to align. Data from future smash-ups will help decipher results from lead-lead collisions, which produce the hot, dense plasma thought to have existed moments after the big bang.

Diamonds galore

A massive haul of industrial-grade diamonds has been sitting in a meteorite crater in Siberia for decades. The rocks were discovered in the 1970s, but until this week the information was classified. Russian scientists say they could boost the diamond industry. Diamonds found in meteorites could form in outer space or on impact with Earth.

Viruses are innocent

Mouse leukaemia viruses have been ruled out as the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. Blood tests of 147 people with the condition and 146 controls showed no sign of the two viruses that have been implicated, XMRV and pMLV (mBio, DOI&colon; 10.1128/mBio.00266-12).

Gene cancer clue

Levels of a gene found in ovarian cancers could predict how well chemotherapy will work. Women with high levels of FGF1 were less likely to respond to platinum-based drugs, but blocking the gene makes their cells lose their resistance (British Journal of Cancer, DOI&colon; 10.1038/bjc.2012.410).